


I Would Have Done the Same

by dnwinch



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 14:47:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7319461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dnwinch/pseuds/dnwinch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the fourth day after the anniversary of Auguste's death. But on this day, it's not Laurent who mourns. This day is Damen's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Would Have Done the Same

**Author's Note:**

> hey pals so I wrote this literally at 2am as a text message to z and this morning I edited it a tiny bit and now here we are!! uh this is kind of emo but it's fine I love it and is sort of similar-ish to my last fic but I really think the two could exist together so it's dope! okay sorry for using the word dope but I hope you enjoy!

It’s four days after the anniversary of Auguste’s death - the first one that Damen and Laurent had shared together. On the day itself, Damen was strong and resolute. He had to be what Laurent could not. Laurent’s facade was thinner that day, taking to the frost on a window pane as opposed to his usual ice over a lake. On this day he was breakable. But he never did. Laurent embraced Damen for a long hour in their chambers that night, but he never broke, despite at which the ease it would be to break what is already fractured. 

The day after, Laurent’s facade seemed thicker. He walked with grace and poise, never misstepping. Damen stood by his side should he fall. He never did. 

The second day after, Laurent was different. Quieter, but out of respect more so than grief - it was the anniversary of Auguste’s wake. 

The third day was better. Though it was the anniversary of his funeral, it always brought a sense of what could only be described as closure to him. His facade was less of a facade as he grew back to his normal day to day being. Damen watched as he grew back to the man he fell in love with. And he hated himself for that. 

The fourth day was the worst. It was not so for Laurent, though, but for Damen. He had been of himself: quiet, less joyous, and he walked without the skip in his step that was so often there. The only ones who could notice would be those who had taken to knowing him well - Laurent, and namely, Nikandros. 

It was sunset in Vere as Laurent swept through the halls towards his chambers, the glow making him look golden in all his glory. 

He felt the door close behind him as he entered, but continued on towards where Damen was standing on the edge of their balcony. 

"You've been different today." Laurent says, walking up beside him, quietly. 

"You noticed." Damen replies without meeting his glance. 

“Nikandros did as well.”

“You’ve been conspiring?” Damen laughed, a bitter, sad laugh. 

"I'm going to have to ask you what the matter is, correct? You are not the type to outwardly confess your troubles." 

"And neither are you." The two both smiled. 

"Then what is it, Damen?" Laurent asked, breaking his forward gaze in favor of turning to the other man. After a moment, Damen spoke. 

"How can you love me?" Damen began. 

"How can you love the man who killed the only person who's ever truly meant something to you?" Damen said, turning to Laurent. 

"It wasn't easy, at first," Laurent started, turning his gaze forward. "But you once said that you came to learn my heart slowly. Did you not think I did the same to yours?" Laurent glanced to his side at Damen. 

"At first I loathed myself. But I came to learn that you did what you did not out of malice, but because you had to. It was required of you. For your country." Laurent faced forward again. 

"You really do speak more when nervous." Damen teased.

"I'm trying quite hard not to misstep with my words," Laurent said. "Damen," he turned back to him again. 

"You killed Auguste, my brother, not out of hatred. Or out of anger. It was not murder. It was politics." Laurent took Damen's hand in his own. 

"I learned to love you when I realized that I would have done the same. Ever since that moment, loving you has been the easiest thing that I have ever done." His eyes, striking as they could be, carried no severity in them. Only honesty. 

"You should write a novel, with the way your words flow." Damen replied, a grin forming on his face. 

"You forget, Damen, that I killed your brother, too. And do you resent me for that?" Laurent raised an eyebrow, tempting. 

"Never." Damen replied instantly. 

"I miss Auguste everyday. But I could never resent you for it. Not ever. Loving you has been the simplest thing that I have ever done. Though how we have gotten to this point may be complicated and complex, we as individuals together are not. And you, and you alone, are what I cherish most in this world." Damen bent down, pulling Laurent's lips against his own, Laurent's hands finding their comfortable positions at Damen's side and nape. 

"You do truly have a way with words." Damen said, once he pulled away, smile bitter yet sincere. 

"Only if you believe what they contain," Laurent said. "Do you?" 

"I think that one day I will."


End file.
